German district takes refuse collection in-house, starting from scratch, and with help from Allison and DAF

In July 2011, the district of Aurich, in Germany, took over waste collection for nearly 200,000 inhabitants. Since then, the municipality hired 16 new drivers and invested in 11 new DAF trucks with Allison fully-automatic transmissions.

AURICH, Germany – The Aurich district is a popular North Sea destination, with fresh breezes, windmills and cow-filled pastures dotting the almost 1,290 km² region located in the northwestern-most part of Germany. Since mid-2011, the municipality has been responsible for collecting its own paper, residual and organic waste. This change resulted from a study which showed that the cost to handle refuse collection directly from the municipality would be less expensive, more consistent with the costs of a private company. By doing this work itself, the district of Aurich has been able to reduce garbage fees by about 9.5 percent in 2011 and an additional 2.6 percent more in 2012, for a total decrease of just over 12 percent for the 100,000 homes in popular seaside cities like Norddeich, Neßmersiel and Greetsiel, as well as the East Frisian Island of Norderney.

For this refuse collection effort, Aurich hired 19 people – 16 of them drivers – and invested about 2.1 million euro in 11 new DAF vehicles with Allison 3000 Series fully-automatic transmissions. The fleet’s technical director, Carsten Appelhoff, had two important criteria during the tender: a really robust transmission and proximity to the workshop. “Every truck empties an average of 800 refuse bins daily. Therefore, we need robust vehicle drivetrains, capable of enduring 1000 stops per day, even with a trailer. Additionally, quick reachability and a good cost-benefit ratio for routine maintenance are crucial so vehicle downtime and costs are as minimal as possible,” he said.

With DAF Truck Sales & Service Dealer™ Rudolf Bohlje Kraftfahrzeuge from Hesel, Appelhoff found the perfect partner. The dealer offered him vehicles which met the tender’s demands exactly, and the workshop is only 15 km away from his depot.

Ten DAF CF 75s with 228 kW (310 PS) and side-loader bodywork from HS Fahrzeugbau now service the mainland in one-man operation. Seven trucks feature a loader with a permanent mounted container, and three are equipped with “CWS,” a container loading system. Each vehicle has covered about 48,000 km with 1,700 operating hours on average, the numbers varying slightly depending on operating area.

For Norderney, a DAF LF 55 with 165 kW (220 PS) and rear-loader bodywork was purchased, since a smaller vehicle was needed for the island’s narrow alleyways. The waste is loaded in bulk containers and shipped on a container ship to Norddeich on the mainland and afterwards transported to the treatment plant of MKW GmbH & Co. KG.

We are very satisfied with the vehicles, and there have been no objections or huge repairs to date,” said Appelhoff. “Our drivers especially like the trucks with fully-automatic transmissions, because they don’t have to worry about the clutch and can have both hands on the wheel. That’s an enormous relief,” he concluded.

Vehicles equipped with Allison fully-automatic transmissions are ideally suited for refuse collection because they ensure an efficient operation cycle and reduced maintenance cost. Allison’s Continuous Power Technology™ features a patented torque converter and uninterrupted shifts for superior vehicle productivity. The torque converter offers not only excellent vehicle startability, but also eliminates costly starting clutch repair and provides drivetrain protection against torque shock and vibrations. Since clutch replacements aren’t necessary, fully-automatic transmissions save operators money, while reducing vehicle maintenance downtime.

March 2013

Waste collection vehicles on the East Frisian mainland

Waste collection vehicle on the island Norderney

About Aurich’s waste company

The waste company of Aurich is responsible for the collection of the blue (paper), black (residual waste) and green (organic waste) refuse bins for about 103,000 households. Every collection of the micro-chipped organic and residual waste bins is tracked electronically by the ident-system. Furthermore, waste collection vehicles register every fill. Each year, around one million organic and residual waste bins and 1.2 million paper bins get emptied by Aurich’s 16 drivers.

About Allison Transmission

Allison Transmission is the world’s largest manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. military vehicles and hybrid-propulsion systems for transit buses. Allison transmissions are used in a variety of applications including on-highway trucks (distribution, refuse, construction, fire and emergency), buses (primarily school and transit), motor homes, off-highway vehicles and equipment (primarily energy and mining) and military vehicles (wheeled and tracked). Founded in 1915, the Allison business is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. and employs approximately 2,800 people. Allison has manufacturing facilities and customization centers located in China, The Netherlands, Brazil, India and Hungary, with a global presence, serving customers in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa. Allison also has approximately 1,400 independent distributor and dealer locations worldwide. More information about Allison is available at www.allisontransmission.com. 

Press Enquiries

Roland Moore-Colyer, Propel Technology, Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK, OX15 4FF. +44 (0)1295 722863 / +44 (0) 7547 242674. roland@propel-technology.com

Miranda Jansen, Allison Transmission Europe B.V. Marketing Communications, Baanhoek 188, 3361GN Sliedrecht - The Netherlands, Tel: +31 78-6422 174. miranda.jansen@allisontransmission.com

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